On the go and no time to finish that story right now? Your News is the place for you to save content to read later from any device. Register with us and content you save will appear here so you can access them to read later.

Related articles:

"We have supported the Kea Conservation Trust for a number of years now and we're proud to be involved in kea conservation, by connecting Wellingtonians with our kea and raising awareness about these amazing birds," said conservation manager Daniela Biaggio.

Fern the kea enjoys the small waterfall and rock pool in Wellington Zoo's new walk-through aviary. Photo / Melissa Nightingale

"Our kea are fantastic ambassadors for their species, and we're very excited to be able to share their story with our visitors at the zoo."

Stoop said the kea, which are the world's only alpine parrot, were one of the world's most intelligent birds.

Zookeepers had been gradually bringing more people through the aviary to get the birds used to people walking through before the big opening at the weekend.

Stoop said walk-through kea aviaries had already popped up in other places around the country.

"You can't really get any closer to them than this," he said.

Because the kea were so confident and inquisitive, having humans coming through their habitat was not a stressful situation for them.

While there are nine kea at the zoo, only seven will have access to the aviary by the time it is open to the public. The other two have not yet met the rest of the kea and will need to be carefully introduced, as kea can be territorial, Stoop said.

Kea are listed as nationally endangered.

This weekend visitors can expect to see kea-themed entertainment, including daily kea talks at 10.45am and 1.30pm, as well as kea-based games from 9.45am each day and live entertainment on Monday from 1.30pm.